My chief goal in life is to be able to sustain myself through my creative projects. These include: writing fiction (short stories, comix), metafiction (essays, literary criticism, literary archaeology), and film & pop culture criticism; creating visual art and design; and writing and performing songs (lyrics & music).I have experience in sales, marketing, merchandising, and management in: multimedia retail (DVD/ video, music, books, periodicals, comix), 15 years; grocers (chain store & natural/ organic/ health foods), 9 years; and restaurants (chains, international, pizza, vegetarian, coffee shops, etc.), 10 years (there's overlap between the three areas).My creative resume includes:FICTION & METAFICTION:
I'm currently finishing a short story for a pulp anthology that should see print sometime in 2008. More details as they firm up. I'm also working on essays for possible publication in future Wold Newton-related volumes. The proposals are firm; the greenlight not so much. Again, more details as soon as I can share them. I've submitted a story treatment for the latest CAG Anthology and have written a treatment to submit for an upcoming issue of Psychosis. I hope to illustrate one or both of them as well.COMIX:
Rachel and I have put together a studio (at www.myspace.com/purpleserpent626) and have pitched projects to major comics publishers. We have worked with some extremely talented artists with amazing credits to their name. Our submissions were never greenlit, sad to say. But we do have other irons in the fire still in development. An illustrated proposal package, which I call DEFENDERS INC., was reviewed by a few editors at Marvel, and some interesting developments ensued, but no one associated with Purple Serpent was invited to be part of the process, alas.VIDEO PRODUCTION AND PERFORMANCE:
"The Darkness" by The Marksman , 1998, music video.
This was included as an extra/ intro on the 1998 VHS release of 5 Dark Souls Part 2 , an indie horror film directed by Jason Paul Collum & produced by my good friend Michael D. Moore, who I've sadly lost touch with. The Marksman, as I understand it, has also included this video on one or more of his musick DVD compilations. For more info, check http://www.myspace.com/markbaranowski .
Credits on "The Darkness" video are as follows:
the music:
The Marksman (Mark Baranowski): all music, vocals, & lyrics; taken from his 1997 album Point Blank .
production: The Marksman & Don "Double D" Donovan (together comprising Nickel City Records).
the video:
directed, photographed, & edited by Michael D. Moore, Michael D. Moore Productions.
produced by Henry Covert and Michael D. Moore.
executive producer: Dika Newlin.
scenario & storyboards: Henry Covert and Michael D. Moore.
Cast:
The Marksman as... the Marksman.
Dika Newlin as the Harsh Disciplinarian Mentor.
Henry Covert as the Stern Mennonite Satanic Preacher.
Double D as the Musick Man.
Uncle Gus as the Dancing Werewolf Godfather.
All of the character names were concocted by MDM, each representing, in Michael's words, "a distinct fragment of the Marksman's tortured psyche!" Michael & Dika launched the careers of GWAR & Tim Ritter as well, so... draw yr own conclusions.
Shot at Virginia Commonwealth University & in the streets of Murder City in April 1998.
Supplemental interviews, with Michael, Dika, Mark, Don, & Gus were conducted by Henry Covert after the shoot. These were co-directed by Covert and Moore and photographed by Michael. These were intended mainly for the pilot episodes of Z-Axis' (local cable access TV) show, Indie Film File with Henry Covert, produced by Phil Rutledge (the show was a spin-off of my monthly comumn in the Indie File free trade). This project never aired, though a relaunch was vetted in 2002 as "The Vein", which was to be aired Time-Warner's local cable access affiliate & co-hosted by Henry Covert and Scott Moseley. Scott came up with the "Vein" name, which I went with, though I'd already copyrighted the Video Autopsy tag by then, and it was mildly recognizable in Charlotte. Pilot footage on DV was shot for a segment on Lucio Fulci. "Siskel & Ebert of the Underground", as a co-worker of mine dubbed it... right. Someday I'll post a blog about my near-miss-adventures in the world of public access TV...
JOURNALISM:
Indie File (regional monthly free paper), 1993, 1996-1998:
capsule music reviews; monthly film/ video column, Indie Film File; monthly comics review column, Scratch Comix; bi-monthly jazz column, Carven Trammel on Jazz. also sold ad space, promoted Indie File, and delivered copies in the southeast Charlotte area.
Among the films reviewed in Indie Film File:
El Topo, Tristana, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Dawn of the Dead, Lemora, The Lacemaker, William S. Burroughs: Commissioner of Sewers, Lydia Lunch: The Gun is Loaded, Towers Open Fire, Chara: Kiss, Cecil Taylor: Burning Poles, Video Search of Miami: International Music Video Sampler , and many others.
June 1997 issue: cover feature - interview with Neil Gaiman.
July 1997 issue: feature interview with Roy Thomas.
[also Feb 1998 issue (unpublished): several music and zine reviews.]Terminal Brain Rot (zine, twice a year), 1997, 1998:
issue No. 10: several capsule film reviews (including Django, Candy, Rapeman, Dirty Duck, and Dika: Murder City ); "Jazz Death" article, including layout & illustration; music reviews.
[also issue No. 11 (unpublished): film reviews; feature interview with Rudy Ray Moore.]Shock Cinema (national magazine, twice a year), 1996-1998:
issue Nos. 10, 11, 12, & 13: capsule film reviews for "Film Flotsam" column.
Reviews included: Gargoyles, Baba Yaga, Otto Muehl: Short Films, Black Jesus, Hanzo the Razor: Sword of Justice, Torture Garden (Le Jardin des Supplices), The Sex Perils of Paulette, The Love Merchant, The Velvet Vampire, The Sin Syndicate, Kikaida, Werewolf Shadow (aka La Noche de Walpurpgis), No One Heard The Scream, The Glass Ceiling, Mean Mother, Black Heat, Dika: Murder City, Diary of An Erotic Murderess (La Encadenada), Code of Hunting (Coto de Caza), and Penalty of Death aka Violent Bloodbath.Zineith (vanity press handout), August 1997, Issue 2 only.
article (cover featured), "In Memoriam: William S. Burroughs (1914-1997)"; also provided design, layout, typesetting, and assemblage of entire issue, cover and interior contents.Video Eyeball (national magazine, semi-monthly to annually), 1997-1999:
1997 issue: regular column, Home Video Notebook (focusing on Anchor Bay Entertainment and Moore Video; interviewed William Lustig & Jay Douglas for Anchor Bay and Michael D. Moore for Moore Video); zine reviews; feature article, "Out of Competition: Pier Paolo Pasolini"; featured film review, "The Sweet Movie"; reviewed the Terminal Brain Rot zine (which i also worked on...).
1998 issue: cover film review, "The Beach Girls and the Monster"; many capsule film reviews (including Watermelon Man, Flesh Gordon, Django, Candy, The Gore Gore Girls); Home Video Notebook column (focusing on Home Vision Cinema). also sold ad space and promoted nation-wide co-op with Borders Books and Music.
This issue's letter page included a letter from Dusan Makavejev, director of The Sweet Movie, thanking me for an "intelligent and insightful" analysis of his film.EYE Magazine (national magazine, bi-monthly to quarterly), 1997-1999:
March 1998 issue: book, zine reviews.
May 1998 issue: long feature article, "Materialaktion Madness".
July 1998 issue: long feature article, "Pillaging Kimba".
November 1998 issue: book reviews.
[also January 1999 issue (unpublished): music & DVD reviews.]Creative Loafing (regional weekly free alternative arts & entertainment paper), 1998:
regular monthly column, Paper View, March, April, May, and July 1998.
March 1998 issue: discussion of the (then) current state of comics; review of new work by Steve Ditko.
April 1998 issue: feature on Robert Crumb, including reviews of The Robert Crumb Coffee Table Book; Ron Mann's film Comic Book Confidential; and more.
May 1998 issue: reviews of The Jack Kirby Collector; work by Mary Fleener; and new comix from Fantagraphics.
June 1998: cover story on HeroesCon 1998. i covered the major events, guests, & history of the Heroes Cons, and did a piece on the many vendors and exhibitors i'd gotten to know each year.
July 1998 issue: magazine review special, featuring reviews of The Comics Journal, WIRE Magazine, and others.Musicomet: Travels in Music and Film (regional monthly free paper), 2001:
monthly film/ video column, Henry Covert's Video Autopsy.
June 2001: essay on the changes in home video, zines, & film journalism since 1996. also a review of the DVD release of Incubus, starring William Shatner.
July 2001: DVD wish list (titles still not on DVD [at that time]), part 1: Titles reviewed: A Face in the Crowd, King of Comedy, Lenny, Straight Time, Weekend, Short Eyes, The Idiot, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Seconds, Querelle, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, A Dangerous Game, Fritz the Cat, Meet the Feebles, Across 110th Street, Superfly, The Elephant Man, Eraserhead, and Bad Timing. As of this writing (August 2007), all of these titles are available on disc (though The Idiot is available as a region-free import only, not a true domestic release, but at least it's available).
August 2001: DVD wish list, part 2. Titles reviewed: Serpico, Performance (which just hit DVD on February 13!), The Devils, Cruising, Prospero's Books, Soylent Green, Near Dark, Breaking In, Dark Passage, Shockproof, Condition Red, 1984, Deranged, and Manson: A Documentary. Of these 14 films, five are still not (to the best of my knowledge) in the pipe for DVD releases. These are: The Devils, Prospero's Books, Shockproof, Condition Red, and Manson: A Documentary. In addition to these specific capsule reviews, I mentioned several other titles, directors, and even video labels underrepresented on DVD. Six years on, much of this has been redressed, but there's still a ways to go. Good news! Criterion has released the official English language DVD release of The Sweet Movie! Makavejev's masterpiece is available in fine retail outlets everywhere, just waiting to warp a whole new generation.Farmerphile # 11 (quarterly digest devoted to the works of Philip Jose Farmer), January 2008:
illustrated Philip Jose Farmer's previously unpublished story. "The First Robot". Being asked to do this has been the greatest honour of anything I've had published, as Mr. Farmer has been my favourite author since 1981. And to have met him at last in August 2007 was an experience beyond words.
ON THE WEB:
My Film-Talk.Com Profile page (I'm currently a Sponsor Member of the Arthouse/ World Cinema & 1970 and Post-1970 Film Discussion Boards, and a regular contributor to the other boards):
http://www.film-talk.com/forums/index.php?showuser=9836My Comic Art Guild (CAG) Profile Page on NING:
http://comicartguild.ning.com/profile/HenryCovertStrange Others (my google blog)
http://henrycovert.blogspot.com/My Flixster Profile Page:
http://www.flixster.com/user/henrycovert67Wold Newton Family Yahoo! discussion group (owner/ co-moderator):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wold_Newton_FamilyMy DVD Collection Online at DVD Afficionado (a work in progress):
http://henrycovert.dvdaf.com/ownedHenry Covert's Video Autopsy Yahoo! group (owner/ moderator):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/videoautopsy
Feasts Unknown Google discussion group (owner/ co-moderator):
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/The-Wold-Newton-Experien
ceWin Scott Eckert's Wold Newton Universe Fan Art page, featuring my illustrations of Doc Savage, The Shadow, and Lord Greystoke:
http://www.pjfarmer.com/woldnewton/Fanart.htm"Fallen Stars and Mutants Rising" (Wold Newton Universe article I wrote for Dennis E Power's Secret History of the Wold Newton Universe website):
http://www.pjfarmer.com/secret/contributors/fallenstars.htmM
y Profile Page on Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A15CZXVJ397WFW/ref=cm_p
dp_profile_changeview/002-7200060-0647257?viewAs=Public&
Go.x=15&Go.y=20MUSIC:
Bands/Projects/Solo Material:
Epitaph for Oneida (1990):
Don Miller: bass, vocals, music; Henry Covert (as Zeo Epiphany): vocals, lyrics, music; Dan Cobb: keyboards, bass; Crystal M: synthesizer, keyboards, vocals; Randy McMillan: guitars; Matt Summer: guitars, synthesizer; Pat Miller: drums; Jimmy Cobb: guitar; numerous others...
Notable Tracks:
Constellation Box (written by Miller/ Covert)
Performed by:
Don Miller, bass; Zeo Epiphany, vocals; Crystal M, synthesizer; Dan Cobb, keyboards (alternate version); Randy McMillan, guitars; Jimmy Cobb, guitars (alt. version); Pat Miller, drums.
Testimony (Miller/ Covert)
Don Miller, bass; Zeo Epiphany, vocals, sound manipulation; Crystal M, vocals, synthesizer, FX; Randy McMillan, guitar, FX.
Saturnalia (Covert)
Don Miller, bass; Zeo Epiphany, vocals; Crystal M, synthesizer; Randy McMillan, guitar.No official (i.e. salvageable) recordings (except possibly one take of Testimony)Epiphany (1990-1991):
Henry Covert (as Zeo Epiphany): vocals, lyrics, music, percussion, electric autoharp, harmonica, noises and FX; Don Miller: bass, music; Dan Cobb: keyboards; Matt Summer: guitars, synthesizer, music, FX; Nick Eagle: synthesizer; Jason Brock: guitars, music, noises and FX, management and traffic control, demo production; Luke Plaetnik: bass, demo production; Brian Anderson: bass, music; Ron Faulkner: guitar, music; Kevin Massey: drums, percussion; Don "Fossil" Simmons: bass, fretless bass; Crystal M: synthesizer, keyboards, vocals; Wes: guitar, kibbitzing; Stephanie P: vocals; numerous others...
Notable Tracks:
Saturnalia (Covert); Yellow Night (Covert/ Summer); Confessions of A Gynaecologist (Covert/ Summer/ Simmons); Tumour (Covert/ Faulkner/ Summer); Archangel Calling (Covert/ Anderson/ Summer); Song for Pauline (Covert/ Summer);
Two Against Death (Covert)
Low-fi recordings of the following tracks appear on the self-distributed cassette series Henry Covert's Sonic Diary (1998-1999): Yellow Night, Confessions of A Gynaecologist, Tumour, and Archangel Calling (all slated for CD remastering in 2008). These tracks were recorded in 1991. The lineups were as follows:
Yellow Night:
Zeo Epiphany: electric autoharp incl. solos, vocals, FX, percussion, music; Matt Summer, lead & rhythm guitars, solos, FX, music; Kevin Massey, drums, percussion; Fossil, fretless bass.
Confession of A Gynaecologist:
Zeo Epiphany: vocals, electric autoharp incl. solos, FX, treatments, percussives, music, lyrics; Fossil: fretless bass, FX, music; Matt Summer, lead guitars, FX, music; Kevin Massey, drums, percussion.
Tumor:
Zeo Epiphany: metal percussion, FX, vocals, noises, music, incidental lyrics; Ron Faulkner, staccato guitar, lead guitar, music; Matt Summer, lead and rhythm guitars, solo, FX, music; Brian Anderson, bass guitar.
Archangel Calling:
Zeo Epiphany: metal percussion, harmonica, FX, music; Brian Anderson, bass guitar, FX, music; Matt Summer, Lead guitars, solos, FX, music; Ron Faulkner, rhythm guitar.
4-Track recordings of Saturnalia and Two Against Death were made in 1991, but were ultimately unusable. A remix of Saturnalia was begun by myself in 2000 but abandoned. The line-up that recorded the tracks was as follows:
Zeo Epiphany, vocals, electric autoharp; Matt Summer, guitars; Kevin Massey, drums, percussion; Jason Brock, bass, production; Luke Plaetnik, bass, production.Chiaroscuro (1989; 1991-1992; on & off 1999 to present)
Jason Brock: guitars, synthesizer, vocals, recorder, percussion, FX, music, lyrics, demo production; Henry Covert (as Zeo Epiphany): lead vocals, music, lyrics, recorder, drums, percussion, synthesizer, electric autoharp, harmonica, FX; Scott Rodzikzak: drums, percussion, synthesizer, vocals, FX, music; Don "Fossil" Simmons: bass, fretless bass, percussion, FX, music; Michael Lillard: drums, percussion, lyrics, music; Randy McMillan: bass guitar; Bill Buck: bass guitar; "Tone Deaf James": saxophones, clarinet, harmonica, guitars, bad vibes; Brutus: bass; numerous bassist/ keyboardist/ female vocalist auditions...
The gory details of Chiaroscuro's convoluted history have been exiled to a series of blog entries, beginninghere,leaving this litany of our meager recording and performing achievements.Notable Tracks:
Morpheus (Brock/ Covert)
Soldier (Brock/ Covert)
The Vampire of Sacramento Suite: 7 Movements, incl.
"Infant David's Brain" (Brock/ Covert)
Shadows (Brock)
Isolation (Brock/ Lillard)
Anais (Brock/ Covert)
Saturnalia (Covert; new intro by Brock)
Link (Covert; additional arrangement by Brock)
I Saw His Face (Brock)
Festival (Brock/ Covert)
Two Against Death (Covert)
From The Machine (Brock)
The Signal (Brock/ Covert)
Aether/ Aetherium (Covert/ Simmons)
Falling (Brock/ Rodzikzak/ Covert/ Simmons)
Down There (Brock/ Rodzikzak/ Covert/ Simmons)
Operatic Fetishist (Brock/ Rodzikzak)
Doesn't Fade Out (Brock/ Rodzikzak)
The Final Hour in Heaven (Brock/ Covert/ Lillard)Recordings of most of these tracks appear on the self-distributed cassette series Henry Covert's Sonic Diary (1998-1999).Graft (1992-1994)
Jason Brock: guitars, FX, vocals, percussion, recorder, synthesizer, drum machine, music, lyrics; Henry Covert (as Zeo Epiphany): vocals, percussion, FX, lyrics, music; Rob: bass guitar; Scott Rodzikzak: drums, percussion, music
Kerry: drums, percussion; Josef: keyboards, synthesizer, vocals; E-Curb: synthesizer; Brian Esposito: bass, FX, drum machine
Graft's set list was identical to Chiaroscuro's.
There is a Chiaroscuro/ Graft MySpace page run by Jason & Sunni Brock, with input by myself; Jason has recently uploaded tracks by various of the band's incarnations there, including some material featuring yrs truly.
The overlap between that page, my Entropie Frograt page, and our (mine, the Brocks, Silver Oak) personal & adjunct project pages will likely grow in coming months.
Entropie Frograt and the Apocalypse Flowers (1993-1994, 1997-2002, 2007)
Henry Covert: vocals, FX, guitars, FX, sequencing, loops, percussion, electric autoharp, bells, xylophones, chimes, whistles, bongos, maracas, marimba, chicken, metal percussives, samples, ritual chants, music, lyrics, arrangements, orchestration, mixing, engineering; Silver Oak: keyboards, synthesizer, sequencing, FX, loops, samples, vocals, ritual chants, music, lyrics, arrangements, orchestration; Michael Lillard: drums, percussion, music; Elisa Faires: vocals, guitars, FX, loops, percussion, maracas, bongos, xylophone, bells, ritual chants, music, lyrics; Ann Roberts: electric violin, FX; Shannon Yandell: percussion, bells, whistles, xylophone, bongos, maracas, vocals, ritual chants, pig;
Duane "Cockring" Cochran (on 1231): production, mixing, mastering, engineering, FX; Brian Esposito: bass guitar, FX, percussion; Debra D: guitarIn addition to its appearance on the Henry Covert's Sonic Diary cassette series (1998-1999), the entire ouevre of 1993-recorded Entropie Frograt material appears on the self-distributed limited edition CD 1231 by Entropie Frograt and the Apocalypse Flowers, produced and engineered by "Cockring" from June to July of 2000.
1231's track list is as follows:
Lolita 93 (Covert/ Oak/ Faires); features Faires, Lillard, Roberts.
Pulsing Orchid (Covert/ Oak/ Faires); feaures Faires, Lillard.
Give Up The Money... Tori Welles (Covert/ Oak); only Covert & Oak.
The 23rd Circle (Covert/ Oak/ Lillard/ Faires); features Faires, Lillard, & Yandell.
All tracks feature Henry Covert & Silver Oak. All tracks produced & co-engineered by Cochran.
There is now an Entropie Frograt MySpace page ( http://www.myspace.com/entropiefrograt ), and I've uploaded the track Lolita 93, and am working on further MP3 conversions for future downloads, with the occasional assistance of newly-minted Apocalypse Flower, Lizard. Check it out.Empty/ Covert (aka Entropie Frograt Mk 2) (1997-2002):
Empty J:
Henry Covert:
Bill White:
Zac Sessions:
Notable Tracks:
Solid Swank (Jones/ Covert)
Ballad of Christ-In-Law (Jones/ Covert)
Daria Nicolodi (Jones/ Covert)
The Ship Song (Nick Cave)
more info to come ...Henry Covert (1991-2006):
Constanze, Remains, Scarlet Eternal, Faceless, Eden, Sister, Cannibal Vengeance Dub, Sienna, Ruby Ruby, Scars
All music & lyrics by Henry Covert.
more info to come...I'll begin posting my lyrics in my blog in the future.SCREENWRITING/ FILM PRODUCTION:
I've put a foray into the film industry on indefinite hold, though some of my best friends and coolest folk I've met on MySpace are filmmakers, performers, &/ or producers. I think I have at least one great screenplay percolating around in my brainpan somewhere, but there is no way for me to invest any time or energy into working on it any earlier than 2009.
